Dear Friend,
This is a false email, circulated since 2004. Being in the poultry industry for more than 2 decades, I never knew that chickens are injected with hormones. In the interest of refuting this belief, there are solid reasons why hormones are not and, in fact, cannot be used in poultry production.
1) Hormone use is illegal. In the United States and many other countries, extremely strict controls are placed on the use of hormones and hormone-like substances in animal feeds. In no case is the supplementation of hormones approved for poultry.
2) Hormones are not effective. The administration of growth hormone does not lead to increased growth in chickens. In a similar vein, injecting growth hormone into humans will not lead to development of a winning basketball team. Growth is an extremely complex combination of metabolic functions, depending on a wide array of endocrinological signals.
3) Administration is extremely difficult. Like insulin, which is used in the treatment of diabetes, growth hormone is a protein. If either of these hormones were consumed orally, they would be quickly digested in the same way as protein from corn or soy. As is well known, diabetics must receive injections of insulin. Thus even if a positive effect were likely, growth hormone would need to be injected into chickens on a very frequent basis. The logistics of injecting hundreds of thousands of chickens with hormone illustrates the impossibility of this scenario.
Research indicates that the release of natural growth hormone in chickens is pulsatile, peaking every 90 minutes. This could imply that if growth hormone were to be administered effectively, the only feasible way to do this would be through frequent intravenous administration.
4) High cost. As chicken growth hormone is not produced commercially, its cost would be extremely high. If 1 mg were to be administered to a broiler, the cost would be far in excess of the value of the chicken itself. Obviously, this makes no commercial sense.
5) Negative impact of chicken performance. The modern broiler has been genetically selected to grow so rapidly that it occasionally encounters physiological limits. All are familiar with the cases of young men who, as they enter puberty, experience a sharply increased rate of growth. The "growth spurt" is usually accompanied by joint inflammation and other problems. In the same way, the modern broiler lives literally on the edge of its metabolic maximum. In fact, feed restriction is occasionally recommended (either by physical restriction or reduced nutrient density) in order to reduce growth rate and limit the incidence of lameness, heart attack and ascites. In tropical regions, a sharply increased growth rate would almost certainly double, triple or possibly quadruple the rate of mortality from heat stress. Thus, it would be highly counterproductive to suddenly force a higher rate of growth on broiler chickens.
6) Hormones are simply not needed. The extremely rapid growth of broilers is very easy to explain without resorting to hormones. Reviewing the records of genetics firms, it will be noted that for the past several decades birds have reached a specified market weight one day earlier per year. The challenge to poultry producers is to provide high quality feed (proteins, vitamins, minerals, etc.) and a healthy environment in the poultry house, including roof insulation, ventilation and adequate numbers of feeders and waterers to meet the broiler's prodigious genetic potential. For those familiar with the technical aspects of poultry production, the rapid growth of modern broilers is a logical consequence of slow but consistent improvements in genetics, nutrition, management and disease control. Hormones are simply not needed.
Regards,
Suguna Kumar P
From: "V!J@Y" <braveheart.vk@gmail.com>
To:
Sent: Tuesday, 19 February 2013 11:23 AM
Subject: [www.keralites.net] AVOID EATING DEADLY CHICKEN BONES
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